Top news: In a speech to tribal leaders and elders on Tuesday,  Afghan President Hamid Karzai repeated his assertion that the Taliban is working in cooperation with foreign militaries to maintain an international presence in the country.

"You announce that you show your power to America by killing an 8-year-old Muslim child and civilians," he said. "I don't think so. You are serving for them."

Karzai, who had made similar remarks last weekend before meeting with visiting U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, also blasted secret talks between Taliban leaders and Western governments.

The U.S. addressed Karzai's statements last weekend with U.S. Ambassador James Cunningham saying "the thought that we would collude with the Taliban flies in the face of everything we have done here."

The latest round of tension between Karzai and the U.S. government comes as American forces in the country suffered their deadliest day so far this year. On Tuesday, officials confirmed that five American soldiers have been killed in a helicopter crash in Southern Afghanistan on Monday. The crash followed the killing of two American troops along with three policemen and two Afghan Army officers by a gunman in an Afghan Army uniform at a base in the Eastern Wardak province earlier that day.

Pope vote: The College of Cardinals have not yet come to an agreement on the second day of balloting for a new pope.